The present invention relates to lawn mowers, and to golf course greens mowers in particular.
Perhaps no grass is more carefully cared for or so closely cut and groomed as the grass on a golf course green. In fact, the amount of labor involved in cutting and grooming golf course greens is considerable. In addition to cutting the grass and collecting the grass clippings, some grasses, particularly Bermuda grasses, such as those that are used in greens in golf courses located in areas of the country that have warmer weather, need to be brushed to keep them from developing a grain.
Brushes for golf course greens are not new but have been around for many years. See for example the brushes of Cummins in U.S. Pat. No. 1,168,713; that of Brook in U.S. Pat. No. 1,421,060; the golf course brush of MacGregor in U.S. Pat. No. 1,801,016; and the green sweeper of Shaw in U.S. Pat. No. 1,674,306. Somewhat more recently, brushes have been attached to riding greens mowers, as taught by Kaufman in U.S. Pat. No. 3,525,201 and by Rogers in U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,676. These mowers lift the cutter heads and clippings buckets when making a turn for the next pass and must lift the brush as well.
How the brush is attached and secured to the mower can make a big difference in the operation of the greens mower with a brush attachment. The movement of the cutter heads and brush need to be coordinated so that both can be lifted together when making a turn at the end of a pass over the green. The attachment should be secure and adjustable so that the greens keeper can assure that the pressure on the grass is suitable for the type of grass, the time of year and the level of moisture in the soil. Thus there remains a need for a better way to secure a greens brush to a greens mower.